Free Facial at Home - Full Instructions

Updated on July 17, 2016

Relaxed face | Source

The face is the gateway to your personality. Paying for a facial massage or sauna, done in a salon once a week, may be a good pampering sensation but it is but a passive affair which won't give you the facial awareness and facial muscle control needed to really feel your face and make it behave nicely at all times. Now you can learn how to do your own facial at home as part of your daily grooming routine. The following facial relaxation and regeneration exercises are designed for anyone who wants to improve their looks, health and morale the natural way. On this interesting and fun journey you will get to know your face and get to know yourself better. First we learn to relax the face from all its ugly making worries.

Relaxation

Some peoples’ faces are relaxed throughout while others display many unnecessary expressions, sometimes seeming almost hysterical. The skill of facial relaxation is unusual in that it does not involve using any special talent or effort whatsoever. Is your face relaxed now, while you are reading these lines?

Your face is, of course, not fully relaxed as you are reading this. If it was, then your jaw would be open and you would be drooling all over the keyboard – I hope that is not the case!

The Trick

The flesh on the face is akin to the soft clay of a sculptor. It can be placed and modeled with massage and exercise. The trick is to develop an awareness of unnecessary facial tensions, learning to let them go. Practice a little every day as part of your cleansing and grooming routine.

Coordination Skills

Static parts of the face and skull, yes, even the ears can actually move and be moved voluntarily. Good facial behavior is a delicate balance between relaxation (release) and contraction of certain muscles to hold all the bits together in the right place. For example, drooping mouth corners can be lifted with subtle exercise.

Being aware of one's expression at all times teaches the muscles in the face to behave in a beauty enhancing way. So before you know it, with a little training, a happy and positive expression on your face may become the norm.

Treat the neck and shoulder-line as part of the face. | Source

The Extended Face

It is hardly necessary to dissect the whole head to come to grips with the idea that the face is merely its front-door mat. I am asking you here to widen your vision and extend the size of your mat to a carpet, reaching from the crown at the top of your head, all the way down to your clavicles (collar bones), and shoulder blades, not forgetting the entire back part of the skull, neck and upper back.

For an effective facial, regard the face as part of the whole head and upper body. The hairline should not stop you moving and sending energy upwards, across the scalp.

A client enjoying Facial Relaxation | Source

How to Relax

To fully relax the face, learn to relax the whole body on the floor, not on a bed as the softness of mattress and cushions will not allow the skeleton to fully sink (relax) into the floor with gravity.

Study the illustration below "Lying On Your Back On The Floor" to become fully aware of the curves in your spine and neck and your overall posture.

Best Position To Relax

Lying on the floor, rather than on a bed, allows the skeleton do sink deeper into gravity. | Source

Might you have any involuntary habits or twitches in your face?

The Secret About Relaxing

The secret about relaxing is to not feel any movement in the muscles, but to feel a very slow, passive, downward drop into gravity pulling down closer to the floor each time you breathe out. For obvious gravitational reasons, it is most advantageous to relax in a horizontal or even better, upside down position.

Full Facial Relaxation Preparation

You will need:

A flat surface to lie on

Two small cushions

Place the two cushions close to each other but not quite touching. Lie on your back, the nape of the neck on the spot between the two cushions.

Prop the little cushions (I sometimes use two rolled-up pairs of socks) tightly into the sides of your neck to stop your head rolling from side to side.

Pull the knees up (leaving feet on the floor)and relax your legs. The back of your neck and waist should be relaxed and not too arched.

Rest the shoulders on the floor and keep the palms relaxed and open, facing upwards.

To begin sensing various degrees of release and contraction in your face, practice the following Full Facial Relaxation exercise.

Full Facial Relaxation Exercise

It’s best to do the Full Facial Relaxation exercise just before going to sleep but I often do it when I feel my face is very tense, for example after an argument or if I am upset or angry. The Full Facial Relaxation is always a wonderful remedy against irritation. Once you relax the face, problems, somehow don’t seem that bad.

Close your eyes, relax your eyelids and guide your attention towards the base of the neck. Take a deep breath in through your nose and breathe out slowly through the mouth.

Relax your tongue. Concentrate in this area on the large muscles in the cheeks and again, let them relax on each out breath. Keep breathing at the same slow rate and now move your attention upwards towards the temples.

Let go of all tension in your temples, eyes, eyebrows and forehead. If your closed eyes are restless and seem to be full of moving images, tell your eyes that it’s dark now and that all they should see is black emptiness.

Feel your forehead expanding towards the floor as if the weight of your hair was causing the action.

Finally, relax your scalp and crown and stay where you are for a few more minutes.

Source

Visualisation

As you breathe out, imagine that your face is melting like ice cream. On each out-breath you will feel that the muscles and skin on the upper back and neck, the cheeks, ears and temples come a little closer to the floor from sheer gravitational pull.

Since you are lying supine (on your back), this particular pull goes in a favourable direction, towards the top and the back of your head. You can remain in this relaxed state for as long as 20 minutes or more. lf you fall asleep, that’s fine. Or you can come back to reality after a few minutes, but it is important to come out of relaxation slowly, not abruptly. To this end, use the following regeneration exercise.

Regeneration Exercise

You may do this exercise when you wake up or at any time when your body needs a boost.

Lying down on your back, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes. Slowly open your eyes, taking a deep breath.

Stretch out your limbs, toes and fingers as if you had just woken up in the morning.

Slowly roll over on to your front and get up to standing, head last.

Now raise yourself on to the balls of your feet, and reach up with your hands, far up above your head, looking at the ceiling or the sky.

Climb with your fingertips higher and higher, looking up until you can grow no taller.

Finish by lowering the heels and, while sustaining a good stretch in the spine and neck, lower the arms, relax the shoulders.

De-stressing Facial And Head Self Massage

Inverted Facial with Gravity Inversion

What creates a droopy face? Gravity! The relaxation and regeneration exercises above are 10 times more effective when performed in an inverted position on a gravity inversion table. Just fancy using gravity to the body's advantage rather than its usual detriment. For the ultimate facial at home why not work on your face in an upside down tipped position? When you come off, you feel younger, taller, balanced, strong, and much lighter.

Upside Down Facial Relaxation

I love to relax and gently massage and exercise my face upside down on my Teeter Gravity Inversion Table. This practice constitutes a very effective natural facelift. By using upside down gravity to the face’s advantage rather than its detriment, all the "hangy bits" in the face get a chance to return to their normal youthful looking place. While you are feeling this new placement, you can train the facial muscles to uphold these reset positions even when you are back to upright. The degree of descent into the upside down or semi upside down position ifs controlled by very subtle arm movements.

The ankle closure system is designed to distribute weight comfortably around the ankle without affecting the foot or heel, allowing for a more comfortable, secure, and relaxing body and facial inversion experience.

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More Specifically

How to do Facial at Home - Relaxation & Regeneration Exercises has given you a richer perspective about your face. Now that you know how to fully relax and regenerate your face, you may want to do more specific facial exercises from my book to address particular problem areas. Please share your experiences with other readers or ask me questions which I shall answer to the best of my knowledge in the comments discussion below.